Adi Gershon

Human relationships, along with their complexities, are the heart and soul of my work. This includes imposed relationships (the family I was born into) and free-choice relationships, which often possess a different level of emotional bonding.

I am interested in paintings that do not exactly reflect the emotional situation. What may seem like an attractive façade often does not reflect the underlying nuances and complexity. This impossible gap between emotion and painting is the driver for my work – my attempt to narrow the gap or deepen the dissonance. This is evident on the painting “Sisters”, where I painted my grandmother alongside her sisters and their mother. They had the most complex relationship, and this is reflected in the disturbing way in which their faces are drawn.

Many times, the figures that are blurred or out-of-focus are the ones that possess the most complex of relationships. They may even be camouflaged or hidden – to reflect the difficulties they are experiencing. This is how the early “Hide and Seek” series was created; it was very graphic and about hiding. This is in contradiction with my recent “Human Ties” series, which is stain-based rather than line-based, and holds greater emotional complexity. It is less stylish and based on intuition. The colors may vary from their original shades – I constantly change them, based on feelings and emotions. These paintings are the result of the personal losses I have experienced in past years, and the series reflects this time period of connections and disconnections. It also raises questions about intimacy and it can be created.

In addition, I am deeply interested with motherhood and female bonds. Beginning with the motherhood I experienced as a daughter to a mother that was missing and existing at the same time, alongside reflexive observation of myself as a mother, with all associated emotions.